Here are the players with the most Box-Toppers points (BTP) by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. The team on the left is the All-Time All-Star team including players who have retired. The team on the right is the Active Career All-Star team including the players with the most career Box-Toppers points by position who were still active at the end of 2017. For both teams, a player’s overall rank in Box-Toppers points since 1995 is also shown. (May need to scroll right or left to see entire chart.)

Kershaw, who leads active players in Box-Toppers points, is 1 of 3 active players on ‘All-Time’ All-Star team

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads the list of Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars and is one of three active players to be included on Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team.

The Box-Toppers All-Time All-Star team consists of the best players by position since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and includes 12 players who have retired and three who are still active—Kershaw, along with Albert Pujols of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers.

Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars consists of the active career Box-Toppers points leaders by position. It includes those three active players from the “all-time” list among the 14 players on the team.

The player with the most career Box-Toppers points at all nine batting positions (including designated hitter) are included on both the all-time and active teams. Also included for both teams are the top four pitchers and the top closing pitcher in career Box-Toppers points.

Pitcher Randy Johnson leads the list of all-time All-Stars with 278.8 Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 2009. (He would likely have more Box-Toppers points if his entire career beginning in 1988 were tracked.)

Active players on All-Time team: Kershaw, Pujols, Cabrera

Pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads players in active career Box-Toppers points with 206.8. Kershaw also is on the all-time career list, ranking third among pitchers and third in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995. Kershaw passed CC Sabathia to become the active leader in career Box-Toppers points during the 2017 season.

Two other players are on both the All-Time All-Stars and the Active Career All-Stars, designated hitter Albert Pujols of the Angels and first basemen Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers:

Cabrera leads all first basemen with 146.9 Box-Toppers points. He ranks 26th in career points since 1995. Though Cabrera only earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017, he passed previous “all-time” leader among first basemen, Jim Thome (146.7), during the past season (on June 2).

Cabrera and Kershaw are the only new players among the All-Time All-Stars at the end of 2017 compared to last year’s list.

Alex Rodriguez

One other player among the All-Time All-Stars, third basemen Alex Rodriguez, is listed as “released” rather than retired. Rodriguez, 42, who leads all third basemen with 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, was released by the Yankees in August 2016. Though he stated prior to the 2017 season that he was retired and had no desire to return to baseball, he was still under contract with the Yankees through the 2017 season (acting as a special advisor), so Box-Toppers maintained his status as “released” through the end of the 2017 season. Now that the contract has ended, Rodriguez is listed as a free agent going into 2018, but given his contract status, his age and his lackluster performance in 2016, Box-Toppers will begin listing him as “retired” going into the 2018 season—as long as he doesn’t attempt a comeback.

CC Sabathia

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia has fallen from the “all-time” All-Star team since the end of last season. At the end of 2016, Sabathia ranked fourth among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began) with 185.0 points. But Kershaw passed him during the 2017 season, causing Sabathia to fall to fifth place, outside the “all-time” top four pitchers. However, Sabathia has 192.7 career points after the 2017 season and is just 1.4 points behind current fourth-place pitcher Curt Schilling (194.1) and could pass him in 2018. Sabathia is still among Box-Toppers’ Active Career All-Stars as the second-ranked starting pitcher, behind Kershaw.

New among active All-Stars: Granderson, Kimbrel

Among the Active Career All-Stars, there are only two players on the list at the end of 2017 who were not on the list at the end of 2016—Curtis Granderson and Craig Kimbrel.

Outfielder Curtis Granderson of the Dodgers is now the third-ranked outfielder among active players in career Box-Toppers points with 69.0, just ahead of Jay Bruce (68.8). Bruce played for the Indians in 2017 and has signed with the Mets for 2018.

Granderson replaces Carlos Beltran, who was the top-ranked active outfielder at the end of 2016 with 104.9 Box-Toppers points. However, Beltran, who played for the Astros in 2017, served primarily as a designated hitter in 2017 and lost his designation as an outfielder for the season, falling from the active all-stars. However, with Beltran’s retirement at the end of 2017, going forward he will be designated at the position he played at for the overwhelming majority of his overall career—outfield. But of course, as a retired player Beltran is not eligible to be among the active all-stars. And with 108.6 career points, Beltran ranks seventh among all outfielders since 1995, not high enough to be included among the “all-time” All-Star team of the top three outfielders.

Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox is the other player joining the Active Career All-Star list, becoming the leader in career Box-Toppers points among active closing pitchers with 67.4. During the 2017 season, Kimbrel passed the previous leader in career points among active closing pitchers, Francisco Rodriguez (63.4).

While there are only two new players among the Active Career All-Stars compared to last year’s list, all four starting pitchers changed positions from the end of 2016 to the end of 2017:

Sabathia moved from first to second.

Kershaw moved from second to first.

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez moved from third to fourth. He now has 171.4 career Box-Toppers points.

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke moved from fourth to third, passing Hernandez during the 2017 season, and now has 176.2 career Box-Toppers points.

Kershaw only player on all 2017 Box-Toppers All-Star teams

Kershaw is the only player on the career All-Star teams to also appear on all three other 2017 year-end Box-Toppers All-Star teams:

He is top NL pitcher on the 2012-17 All-Star team with 147.2 Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons.

He is second-ranked NL pitcher on the 2016-17 All-Star team with 47.5 Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons.

He is second-ranked NL pitcher on the 2017 All-Star team with 23.1 Box-Toppers points last season.

There are two players who made two other Box-Toppers’ year-end All-Star teams:

Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke, third-ranked pitcher among the Active Career All-Stars, was also on Box-Toppers 2012-17 All-Stars as the third-ranked NL starting pitcher (99.1 Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons) and was on Box-Toppers 2017 All-Stars as the fourth-ranked NL starting pitcher (20.1 Box-Toppers points last season).

Red Sox pitcher Craig Kimbrel, top closing pitcher among the Active Career All-Stars, was also on Box-Toppers 2012-17 All-Stars as the top-ranked American League closer (61.4 Box-Toppers points over the past six seasons) and was on Box-Toppers 2016-17 All-Stars as top AL closer (16.7 Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons).

There are six players among Box-Toppers Active Career All-Stars listed here who are also among Box-Toppers 2012-17 All-Stars, the top players by position and league over the past six seasons, including:

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera

Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano

Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki

Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre

Astros catcher Brian McCann

Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez

One note: Box-Toppers’ All-Time All-Star teams are not separated by American League and National League as are Box-Toppers’ All-Star teams for the past season (2017), past two seasons (2016-17) and past six seasons (2012-17). All players on the All-Time All-Star team are grouped together on one team, regardless of league, since most of the players are retired and since many of those players played in both in the AL and NL during their careers.

Box-Toppers probably could have separate AL and NL teams for Active Career All-Stars, since those players were active in either the AL or NL at the end of 2017. But to keep it relatively simple and to better make comparisons to the All-Time All-Star team, Box-Toppers also groups Active Career All-Stars together on one team, without regard to their league. The Active Career All-Stars include 10 players who ended 2017 in the AL and four who ended 2017 in the NL.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Box-Toppers

Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.